Friday, February 7, 2014

Meet the cubs ...

Meeting
your offspring for the first time can be quite an event – even if you are a lion, as
our ranger Frances Hannah explains.

We
found the three big brothers slumped lazily by the dam.It was early morning and the air was still so
I didn’t expect much from these lazy lumps of fur. But then one brother stood
up suddenly and made a beeline for the river.I followed at a distance thinking he’d prefer to lie in the soft sand of
the dry river as opposed to the hard dam wall where his brothers had hogged all
the shade.Behind me the other two
brothers had also become interested and were slowly bringing up the rear. I reverses off the road slightly to make way
and we saw their interest was in the sandy coloured female running down the sloping
hill towards us!

She
was charged with attitude and gave her first suitor a few paws around the head –
there was a bit of a scuffle with snarls and flying tails!Then a hot pursuit as the lioness trotted off
up the road behind us with an eager male lion behind her. The brother further up the road in front of us
didn’t seem perturbed as he continued climbing up the slope. A second lioness suddenly emerged from the
long grass to meet the curious male.She
guided him half way down the slope in perfect view for our cruiser. She urinated on a patch of grass in front of him
and left him to be engrossed with her scent. But where had the lioness darted
off to? Did she have a kill? Or something better!!??

The
grass was long and I could just make out the lionesses figure as her honeyed
colour melted into the background, but then my guests in the back began to get
excited in a hushed yet determined whisper they gasped “here she comes, with
some small ones!”

There
they were: the 10 week old lion cubs that were the hottest property in the
park! The first cubs of our lions, and my
very first sighting of them!

Mom
gingerly nudged the brown speckled, blue eyed cubs closer towards ‘potential
dad no1’. My heart was racing considering how the male would react, would he
attack, defend, or destroy? He was
hovered over the females urine patch, still besotted with the smell, when suddenly
he looked up and was met with a small bundle of fur that was seated at his paws
staring into his large eyes.The male
looked startled and bent down towards the cub with a determined
stance.We all held our breath for this
was the moment of truth. The big male
lion sniffed the cub’s head, then threw back his head and gave out amore of a
grunt than a roar.He turned on his back
legs and fled the meeting as if dealing with a bad smell. “Daddy” scampered away, seemingly intimidated
by the new kids on the block!

About Me

Our intimate and exclusive lodge is set in the very heart of Zululand against the backdrop of the lovely Lebombo Mountains. Come and join us for a unique bush experience on our private game reserve near Hluhluwe and Mkuze. Feel the weight being lifted from your shoulders from the moment you arrive. Breathe in the fresh aromatic air of the bushveld and feel the pressures of the outside world draining from your being. Heal your soul with starlit nights around the campfire and walk where only animals have trodden for years.